


intro to unrequited love and dramatic irony

by Rustyanklebraclet



Series: Community episode rewrites [5]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Angst, Episode Related, Episode: s03e08 documentary film making: redux, Kinda, M/M, Missing Scene, One-Sided Relationship, Unrequited Love, im sorry about this ok i dont know what came over me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:34:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24503965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rustyanklebraclet/pseuds/Rustyanklebraclet
Summary: In which a conversation in their dimly lit kitchen forces abed to confront a fact that he's been ignoring, and Annie is there to listen.
Relationships: Annie Edison & Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir, troy/britta but like. not.
Series: Community episode rewrites [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1772773
Comments: 22
Kudos: 203





	intro to unrequited love and dramatic irony

**Author's Note:**

> ahhhhh im sorry about this lol. i was rewatching this ep while planning a fic im writing and ive seen that episode multiple times and the shot of abed at the end when britta and troy walk away still kills me every time and so this just like... manifested in my word doc.
> 
> despite how this reads, up in my thick skull there's more at play here than it seems, so i may end up adding on to this because i hate hate hate sad endings. i usually try to avoid them but. well. here we are.
> 
> set (obviously) directly after the events of 03.08.

“So how did the documentary turn out, Abed?” Annie asks him, the two of them leaning against the wall as Troy unlocks the apartment.

“Pretty good, I think. Obviously, it’s not done yet, and I’m going to have to do a lot of editing down with the footage I have of the dean’s breakdown” Abed frowns, eyes training on the carpet of the hallway “some of it is genuinely disturbing”

“Like, funny-disturbing or disturbing-disturbing?” Troy asks, as he pushes the apartment door open

“Disturbing-disturbing,” says Abed.

“Yeah, he, uh, wasn’t in a great headspace,” says Annie “I woke up yesterday morning with one hundred and sixty-two missed calls from him between 3:00 and 6:30 am.”

The three of them have made their way into the kitchen, and Annie opens the fridge and pulls out a pizza box.

“You guys want any?” she asks, and they both shake their heads. She shrugs, puts two slices on a plate and sticks them in the microwave, turning it on.

“I still don’t get why the dean suspended classes,” she says, as she waits for her pizza “there were, like, thirty people max on that set.”

“Yeah,” says Troy, nodding as he moves past Annie to peer into the fridge for himself “I can’t believe I'm saying this, but I honestly would have preferred classes over all of this.”

Annie and Abed hum in agreement as the microwave beeps, and Annie pulls her plate out.

“I’m gonna go eat in my room,” she says “probably read or something.”

They both nod as Troy pulls out a loaf of bread, removing two slices and popping them in the toaster.

Abed watches him, quietly, and remembers his observation from earlier. He considers keeping it to himself, but decides against it.

“So, you and Britta?” he asks.

Troy pauses, one arm held out in front of him to grab a jar of peanut butter. He doesn’t look at Abed as he speaks and moves to pull it out.

“What about us?”

Abed frowns. One of the things that he likes about Troy is that he never pretends not to know what Abed knows, avoids the “they don’t know that we know that they know that we know” trope, because it’s Abed’s least favourite episode of friends and Troy is well aware of that fact.

There are exceptions to most rules, though, and this is one of them.

“Weeks of observation, before I even started making the documentary, have made it very obvious the two of you are interested in each other.” Abed says, with a slight sigh “if you’re still in the ‘will they, won’t they’ phase and don’t want to talk about it yet, then that’s alright. I just thought you might want to.”

Troy turns to face him now. The toast pops, but he ignores it. His face is blank, and Abed’s never been good with faces, but he can more or less read Troy’s, and he can see the internal struggle of whether or not to address it.

His shoulders slump incrementally, and his face breaks into the ghost of a grin.

“I mean, I don’t really know yet,” he says, shrugging. He turns back to his toast and starts slathering one piece with jam, won’t look at Abed as he speaks “it’s like, I think I really like her, and sometimes I think she might feel the same way, but then it’s like all of a sudden it’s gone again.”

Abed is silent, thinking about this as he watches Troy finish making his sandwich.

“Presumably unrequited love-”

“Wh- love is a strong word.”

“Fine, presumably unrequited  _ like _ on part of both parties when they actually do have feelings for each other is a particularly tired concept and one that results in nothing but awkward sexual humour and occasional misplaced jealousy and resent,” Abed says, as Troy turns to face him and rolls his eyes, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“No, I know that,” he says “I just don’t know how to be sure.”

“That’s the problem with real life,” says Abed, shaking his head “on TV, slow shots and crooning background music tell you everything you need to know. The real world isn’t like that.”

There’s a dull sinking feeling in his stomach that he pointedly ignores as Troy considers this, chewing his sandwich intensely.

“What do you think I should do?” he asks, and Abed is a little taken aback.

“I’m not sure,” he says, “this really seems like an Annie thing. Or a Shirley thing. Maybe even a Jeff thing, in a small dose.”

Troy nods. The kitchen is silent as Troy takes the last few bites of his sandwich, dusts the crumbs off his hands, and sets his knife in the sink.

“You wanna watch something?” Abed asks, watching Troy put the bread and jam back in the fridge.

He shakes his head.

“Sorry, man, I’m pretty tired. Probably gonna turn in.”

“Alright,” says Abed, the sinking feeling deepening.

“Tomorrow’s Friday, right?” Troy says “let’s watch all the robocop movies”

“Yeah, alright.”

“Awesome. You wanna see if Annie wants to join, or just us?”

“She’ll probably say no, but we should still ask her.”

“Yeah,” says Troy “that makes sense.”

They’re quiet for a moment, both planning for the following night.

“Okay,” says Troy “I’m going to bed. What are you doing right now?”

Abed shrugs.

“Well, goodnight, man,” Troy says. He reaches out for their handshake, and Abed reciprocates.

Troy exits the kitchen, and Abed is left standing in the yellow light, the rest of their apartment bathed in darkness before a lamp is switched on in the blanket fort. He shakes his head and flicks the switch on the kitchen wall, walking very quickly to Annie’s door. He almost pushes it open, but stops himself and remembers the last three times he’s done that and she’s yelled at him.

He knocks, firmly.

“Come in,” Annie calls, and Abed opens the door, stepping in and shutting it swiftly behind him.

“Hey,” she says softly, setting aside the book she had been reading from her lap “what’s up?”

Abed opens and closes his mouth, unsure of how to give Annie more than two years of information, most of which being what she would consider big news, at once.

“Are you okay?” she asks. She slides over, making room next to her and patting the empty spot “we don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, you can just come sit.”

Abed nods as he crosses the room. He sits in the spot next to her and tentatively leans a head on her shoulder.

He suddenly feels uncharacteristically choked up as she adjusts herself to wrap an arm around his shoulders.

“I know I said you don’t have to talk, and you still don’t, but can you at least let me know if you’re alright?”

“I’m not hurt,” says Abed, trying to keep his voice steady.

“No, I mean, like-” she clicks her tongue and pauses, trying to explain herself better “like on a scale of one to ten, how do you feel?”

Abed thinks about this, but it doesn’t seem like something he can just assign a value to. He feels it all at once, the sinking, it’s everywhere and nowhere and Abed can neither pin it down enough to compartmentalize and ignore or let it loose enough to forget and get rid of.

He just shrugs and feels Annie's chin move against his forehead as she nods.

“That’s alright,” she says, and the only sound that can be heard is the street below annie’s open window and the low hum of the neighbour’s TV.

“Unrequited love is a moronic trope,” he says, very quietly, after a moment has passed, “I always thought it was beneath me”

And Annie inhales, very quietly, but sharply, and Abed can tell she understands. And despite his earlier annoyance with Troy, he’s glad she doesn’t address his confession, just rubs the side of his arm a little bit and pulls him closer.

In Abed’s head, there’s a slow pan out, a tasteful instrumental playing over top.

In reality, there’s Annie pressing a kiss to his forehead, whispering that she won’t say anything to the others, and Troy texting Britta from the blanket fort they built together on the other side of the wall.

**Author's Note:**

> come talk to me on [Tumblr](https://readandwritesilver.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/HOMINGPIGE0N) if you want
> 
> As always, any and all feedback is appreciated :)
> 
> Much love, Clover <3


End file.
